Journal Club Article: Godin, S. (2016). Will this be on the test: Rethinking online education. The Startup.
Step 1: Read the journal club article above
Step 2: Consider the courses you run or about to develop and is there any potential for change in how you would like to deliver them?
Step 3: What are the drivers and barriers for change (cost, resources, IT skills)?
Step 4: Online tests are difficult to administer in high-stakes situations, so is it possible to assess clinical skills from a healthcare perspective?
As soon as education gets difficult (and useful education always gets difficult) it’s social pressure, peer pressure and our own need to fit in and achieve that often keeps us going.
Traditional Education
Knowledge Transfer: Lectures are at the heart of higher learning.
The Stick: tests are the way institutions enforce compliance.
The Carrot (or reward): accreditation and the piece of paper that gets you certified.
The New Approach
At its core: enrollment, not tests. Experiences not media consumption. Peer to peer, not top down.
- Enrollment of motivated individuals
- Experiences to challenge and transform
- Peer to Peer learning environment. Not top down (beurocracy style).
- Also with live coaches.
Comment: I noted this section in particular and wondered how many healthcare educators when reading this article, think ‘if only’:
“A team of ten trained coaches is engaged with the students, holding office hours in videoconferencing software, cheering from the sidelines and holding people accountable — not to a system, not to a test, but to themselves.”